How to dress up as Illyria from Season Five of Angel
Illyria is a very unique looking character, and a particularly awesome one to cosplay. She's also quite hard - or at least, her armour is.
There are two parts to cosplaying Illyria - the make-up and the costume. If you don't have the time or skill to make the full costume, you can still colour your hair and paint your face, and (hopefully) get some contact lenses, and be completely recognisable as Illyria.
The body armour is very complicated - a few people have made it successfully, but it is a major mission. Creating Illyria's costume involves getting a full-length body suit, adding vinyl or faux leather in individual pieces, and then tracking down hessian, paint, and various odd bits of ribbon and unidentifiable material, and piecing it together into gloves, shoes and bodysuit.
Nevertheless, if you wish to attempt this, there are resources available on this page, and links to other people's tutorials and cosplays - hopefully they'll help you get started!
Page One: Illyria The God-King Illyria, played by Amy Acker, appeared in Season Five of Angel. Both beautiful and deadly, her rebirth killed one of the previous characters, and brought great grief to Angel, Wesley, Gun, Spike and Lorne.
There are two parts to cosplaying Illyria - the make-up and the costume. If you don't have the time or skill to make the full costume, you can still colour your hair and paint your face, and (hopefully) get some contact lenses, and be completely recognisable as Illyria.
The body armour is very complicated - a few people have made it successfully, but it is a major mission. Creating Illyria's costume involves getting a full-length body suit, adding vinyl or faux leather in individual pieces, and then tracking down hessian, paint, and various odd bits of ribbon and unidentifiable material, and piecing it together into gloves, shoes and bodysuit.
Nevertheless, if you wish to attempt this, there are resources available on this page, and links to other people's tutorials and cosplays - hopefully they'll help you get started!
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Dressing Up As Illyria
"Joss decided he wanted a 'blue' character and the rest was left to Dayne."
Illyria is rather blue, as you can see. There are a number of make-up tutorials floating around, but they all follow slightly different steps.Probably the best resource to read is Dayne Johnson's Behind the Scenes discussion of how he created Illyria's appearance.
If you don't want to make the full costume, you could just paint your face, slip in some contacts and colour (or clip in) blue hair. She's a very recognisable character, and has appeared in 'normal' clothing - such as when she pretended to be Fred, for Fred's parents.
The armour is basically a stretch bodysuit covered with pieces of pleather and fabric.
You can go plain-clothes Illyria, but you cannot skip the blue paint!
Go Full Armour or Just Add Makeup?
Should Illyria be left to the professionals or can anyone play?
While Illyria's costume involves full leather-style body armour, this is very difficult to make, and probably hot to wear. As she's a very unique looking character, and does disguise herself in the appearance of normal clothing on occasion, you can just dress up as a quick and easy version, with blue hair, eyes and make up (and maybe a sword!)
Should you try and make the full version of Illyria's costume or just paint yourself blue and dress up in normal clothes?
Go Full Armour
astr0_babe says:
If you're gonna do it, go all out!
Just Add Makeup
Leopardmoon says:
I'm already working on a couple of big cosplay costumes, i don't have time to make her bodysuit. Cosplay is an expensive hobby and i'm working on a budget already and I already had something which was close to what Amy Acker wears in her first appearance as Illyria. So I'm going to say plain clothes plus make up.
Videos of Illyria
Tributes, music videos and clips from Season 5 of Angel
automatically generated by YouTube
Amy Acker - as Illyria and Fred
Table of Contents: What You Will Need For Her Face and Hair
The main parts of her make-up are:
Hair - blue streaked, dark brown to just past her shoulders - this can be a wig, your real hair, dyed blue, or using extensions. Her hair actually varies in different episodes - in some it's very straight and smooth, in others it is wavy and tumbling.
Eyes - blue contacts. These are important and may need to be custom-made
Skin - blue face paint on the forehead and encroaching on the cheeks. This actually has some subtle 'crack' like patterning that can be painted on with a lighter blue. Her skin is very pale and you will probably have to put down some kind of alabaster foundation.
Lips - pale, slightly silvery blue
Eyeshadow - silvery blue, slightly more aqua than the hair and quite light
Blue Hair Extensions
If you don't want to dye your hair, you can clip in blue extensions to get the same effect.
Check you get the right shade of blue!
Blue hair extensions on eBay
For costuming related products, bulk buys, wigs and specialty items, eBay is often a better place to go - if you're willing to spend time hunting for a bargain or pay a lot more.
Photo of Illyria's Face
A better view of Illyria's facial designs and blue contacts
Illyria's Eyes: Contact lenses
Her eyes are inhuman, so you pretty much have to wear contact lenses
Illyria's Eyes- Large, with a small pupil
- Faded medium blue
- Never blink!
You can order custom-made ones, or pick a colour from premade versions. As Illyria's eyes are quite unusual a shop-bought contact lens probably won't be perfect. On the other hand, they're a lot cheaper! If you have vision problems then you'll have to order custom contacts though.
Be careful of what you put in your eyes, and ask for help if you've never used contacts!
If you're considering getting custom contacts, then you can try:
- 1-800 Contacts
You can look at the colours here (click the little words under the image - the Aqua is closest to Illyria's eyes, but may be affected by your natural eye colour).
- 9mm SFX Custom-made Theatrical Contacts
Custom contacts for a costume or 'off the rack'?
Quick and cheap or expensive custom-made contacts?
Which would you opt for - cheap ready made contact lenses, or
Custom-made and quality!
astr0_babe says:
Again, go all out! The cost is high but the effect in the end is so worth it, the contacts bring out so much of the costume, makeup alone won't do it justice imo.
Cheap and easy!
Leopardmoon says:
Again, budget. so cheap and easy.
Doesn't have to be completely show actuate for me to be happy
More colored contact lens choices on eBay
Illyria pulling power from her sarcophagus, after creating her armour
Illyria's Flawless Skin Video Tutorials
Video tutorials showing how to get pale skin, ready to play Illyria (or for any other costume!)
Illyria has very pale, perfect skin - you may need to apply make-up to get the right effect. These tutorials are designed for general cosplaying, and vampire/goth halloween costumes. Illyria also has quite a lot of make-up around her eyes. The main difference to the tutorials is the colour!
Note: Tutorials for using makeup with pale skin are not the same as tutorials for using makeup to get pale skin!
If you expect people to be photographing you, an Anti-Shine Powder is a very good idea to prevent shiny, oily skin in photos!
Note: Tutorials for using makeup with pale skin are not the same as tutorials for using makeup to get pale skin!
If you expect people to be photographing you, an Anti-Shine Powder is a very good idea to prevent shiny, oily skin in photos!
curated content from YouTube
Alabaster Foundations
You'll want some kind of derma-shield base to protect your face from the face paint, but whether you want to make yourself look pale(r) depends entirely on you, and what your skin colour already is (although a dark brown-skinned Illyria would be quite cool actually, with her blue highlights!).
Illyria - Blue Face Paint Video
Painting the blue skin and forehead patterns.
This is a video showing how to apply the blue face paint and makeup, and would come after any skin foundation and other makeup if you choose to use those. It's also the only video tutorial for Illyria's makeup! (There's also this brief one listing the products used by another costumer)
- Paint base blue on forehead
- Brush lighter paint along edges of the forehead , to blend in the blue to the rest of the face with a large brush
- ...and down the sides of the face, and in to the cheekbones
- Paint eyelids blue
- Apply silver-blue lipstick
- Use a small brush to paint the pale blue and white lines on the forehead
- Use the large brush again down the sides of the neck
curated content from YouTube
A closer look at Illyria's hair and face
Blue Face Paints and Makeup
.Painting Yourself 'Til You're Blue In The Face
You'll need a light blue to paint the details on, and a darker blue for the main areas.
Great Stuff on eBay
Contours and Cheekbones Makeup Videos
If you want to get daring, you can try and mimic Amy Acker's cheekbones!
curated content from YouTube
Illyria's Armour: Front View
Her armour is a complicated puzzle of rope or hessian, leather, and other textiles on a black base
Illyria's posture is typically wary and poised - her arms out slightly, her head forward, her eyes very fixed - hunting like a predator.
And the real Illyria costume (being worn by fans)
Walkthroughs and Tutorials for the Illyria Armour
How previous costumers created the Illyria costume
- the angry thing: How to make an Illyria costume, from Angel
- OK, I've been looking for a post like this myself. Rather than have people show off the costumes they DID make, I'm going to try to chart my progress as I figure out the pattern and have brainstorms about how to make this costume
- Illyria
- Step by step production of a custom-made Illyria costume: I was recently asked to create a replica of Illyria from Angel. I've never seen the show, but it's a great costume with a great look.
And who am I to resist a blue demon? - Ver's Corner - Portfolio of a Seamstress: Illyria
URCES]Dharma Trading[07/17/05] I have been meaning to go to the eye doctor because I need prescription novelty contacts but I don't trust places over the internet for ordering. Turns out you can only get [WILD EYES] through a doctor, and they have Wild...- Cosplay Page Satine
- In French, lots of photos but a very brief description - rough translation:
The bodysuit was made from "sheets of faux leather placed directly on the black stretch jersey/bodysuit. Very little sewing but a lot of DIY: I spent 5 tubes of glue as a whole"
The creation of an Illyria costume in photos
Godking_Skywalker created an Illyria costume and documented the process in photos.
Illyria Cosplay Convention Photos
Some Illyria cosplays from Flickr!
Other Illyria Cosplays
(Without in-depth tutorials)
Cosplay.com - Illyria - GlamourKat
Costume of Illyria Fred clothes from Angel by Cosp more...0 points
Cosplay Lab - Illyria Cosplay
First Place at Japan Touch
4th place at Game in Paris more...0 points
Cosplay.com - Illyria - Astr0_babe
Costume of Illyria from Angel (TV series) by Cospl more...0 points
Any Other News On Cosplaying Illyria?
A quick daily search for Illyria costumes
- Stage review: Long Beach Shakespeare Company's 'Twelfth Night' is merry and bright
- Before the play begins they are victims of a shipwreck on the coast of Illyria, and neither knows the other survived. Part of the comedy comes from the confusion the twins bring to many scenes. The problem is Zana is a charming brunette just over 5 ...
- Georgia Shakespeare Opens Summer Festival With ILLYRIA, 6/6-8/5
- "The visually stunning set by J. David Blatt will remind audiences of Disney's Aladdin, creating an exotic world full of color and whimsy, complimented by Patricia M. Wesp's lush costumes. "For those who might not be Shakespeare buffs, this show offers ...
- Celebrating 'Twelfth Night' play in the spring
- The play is set in Illyria (now part of Croatia and Montenegro), a place far enough away from England that anything can happen. Twelfth Night was then a holiday celebrated by the Lord of Misrule and was especially known for allowing people to take on ...
- QCT Student Theatre to present "Twelfth Night"
- QCT's Laboratory Theatre will be transformed into the beachy shore of Illyria for this enchanting production which will feature live music and a pool on stage. The Duke is in love with Olivia, who falls in love with Viola when she visits her dressed as ...
Other Geeky Film and Television Costumes You Could Make
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Comfortdoc Oct 31, 2011 @ 11:50 pm | delete
- Congratulations. You lens is an Honorable Mention on the Best of Make Your Own Halloween Costumes. Be sure to stop by to pick up your award image.
Halloween Blessing Angel
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JoyfulReviewer
Oct 17, 2011 @ 4:37 pm | delete
- Nice video instructions. Thanks for the fun costume lens!
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sabrebIade
May 22, 2011 @ 12:15 pm | delete
- Illyria cosplayers shouldn't be smiling!
LOL
Unless they are beating up a Spike cosplayer...
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astr0_babe
Oct 19, 2011 @ 7:34 pm | delete
- @ sabreblade, I absolutely agree with you!
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More About Joss Whedon and the Buffyverse
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